Improvement in machines for cutting up cotton-plants



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.' B. T. CURRIER. v

Machine for Cutting. up Cotton Plants.

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Patented March 6, 1860.

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Machine for Cutting up Cotton Plants.

No. 27,352. Patented March 6. 1860.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

B. T. (JURRIER, OF BATH, MAlNE.

IMPROVEMENT IN MACHINES FOR CUTTING UP COTTON-PLANTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 27,352, dated March 6,1860.

To all whom '1' t may concern.-

Be it known that I, B.T.OURRIER, of Bath, in the county of Sagadahoc andState of Maine, have invented an Improved Machine for Outting Up andRooting Out the Stubble of (lotton-Plants, of which the following is afull, clear, and exact description, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings, making part of this specification, in whichFigure l is a plan of the machine; Fig. 2, a vertical section throughthe same on the line 00 a: of Fig. 1.

In the cultivation of cotton it is customary, after the cotton has beenpicked, to hoe up or pull out from the ground the stock or stubblebefore the ground is again plowed, asthelong stocks interfere with theplowing. This is a troublesome and expensive operation.

My present invention consists in a machine for cutting thecotton-stubble into short pieces and for pulling up the root or stump ofthe plants and dropping them in rows on the ground, so that they may bereadily turned under by the plow.

That others skilled in the art may understand and use my invention, Iwill proceed to describe the manner in which'I have carried out thesame.

In the said drawings, the frame of the machine consists of two heavybars, AA,oneach side of the machine, which are connected together inpairs by short braces to a at the front and rear ends, and the frames orpairs of bars are connected and held in position, as shown in Fig. 1, bytwo stout cross-braces, b, near the rear end of the machine, and by abroad fiat bar, B, attached at each end to a standard, (I, (dotted inFig. 2,) which rises from the bar A.

Within the frame formed by the bars A A, on each side of the machine, isa carryingwheel, 0, to the outer side of which is attached a gear, a, ofless diameter than the wheel itself, which engages with a beveledpinion, f, on a shaft, 6, having its bearings in the bar A and in theend of the bar B. This shaft 0 extends up a little above the bar B andcarries a puly, a-

Two shafts, D, which have projecting from them series of cutters i, havetheir bearings in the bar B and in a stirrup, E, which is suspended bybraces k from the lower side of each barA, one on each side of themachine. To

the top of each of these shafts D is attacheda pulley, l, and a cord orsuitable band, m, from one of the pulleys g is led over one of thepulleys Z, the bands being so arranged by crossing or otherwise that theshafts 1) will be revolved toward each other, as indicated by the arrowsi. The shafts D are placed so that when the machine is being drawn overthe ground and the frames A A are horizontal, or nearly so, as shown inFig. 2, these shafts shall be inclined forward at the top. Thestirrup Eis inclined to the horizon,rising toward the rear of the machine.

To the lower end of each shaft D, where it projects below the stirrup,is attached a pulley, at, on the under surface of which is a serles offingers or pins, 5, which extends out a little beyond the periphery ofthe pulley. Immediately in the rear of the pulley n is another pair ofpulleys, 12, one on each side, which are supported in suitable bearingsattached to the stirrup E. A continuous band, 0, (in practice a chainwould be used,) is led over a pulley, a, and a pulley,p, on each side,the two bands running close together in the middle of the machine.

Friction-rolls 6 in bars r, attached to the stirrups E, bear against thecords 0 between the pulleys n and p and keep them parallel. The pulleysn and p are driven in the direction indicated by the arrows 2.

A series of metal bars, 8, are placed immediately behind the shafts Dand in close proximity to the cutters 2'. They are attached at each endto upright bars t, fastened at top to the bar B and at'bottom to thestirrup E. The bars 8 are so placed that as the shafts D are revolvedthe knives t' will pass over the front edges of the bars close to them,and the bars thus serve to support the cotton-stock while being cut bythe knives. The animals drawing the machine are placed one on theoutside of each of the shafts G, and draw on staples in the braces to.They walk one on each side of a row of plants.

The wheels 0 are here represented as plain disks; but they may be of anyconvenient form, and, if necessary, the tread may be corrugated orroughened to give them sufficient hold on the ground to drive the shaftsD.

The following is the operation of this ma chine It is driven over thefield lengthwise of a row of plants, the wheels 0 passing one on eachside of the row. The bars S are thus brought into contact with thestandingplants, and as the shafts D are revolved rapidly in thedirection of their arrows the plants are cut by the knives t into shortpieces, which fall down to the ground. As the machine passes on thestump of the plant is-seized by the fingers 5 on the pulleys n and iscarried between the bands 0, (or chains,) which run close enoughtogether to grasp and carry it up the incline in which the pulleys n andp are placed. This draws the roots from the ground and drops the stumpatthe rear ofthe machine. I

fied.

B. T. GURRIER. Witnesses:

THOS. R. ROACH, P. E. TESGHEMAOHER.

